In my practice I also focus on the Web Content Accessibility in my web projects I work on as a web coder from time to time in addition to studying at a college and also working full-time as a cashier in a supermarket.

The reason why my aim is to contribute to creating accessible web sites is also because I myself am a handicapped person having one eye blind so I know what’s it like to be discriminated just because of having a dissability.
And that’s why I’m involved in an initiative in my country to teach other coders to create accessible web sites.

I am so glad for the work that has been done in this to improve web content accessibility but we still are not at the end. There’s still a lot to do about it.

Can you agree with me?

yours fidelis from Slovakia

Sad.

I feel that the only reason one person should sue for an incident like you describe is to get some sort of dignity back and help them come to realize that it wasn’t their fault they tripped, it must be something or someone else’s…. sarcasm.

Not directly related, but thought I’d share :)

And I agree that a consumerist.com type site for public services and facilities and the like is a great idea.

But my main take away from this post is that I need to stop and help strangers more. I tend to isolate myself from my surroundings, but now I need to open my eyes and help strangers in need.

Thanks for letting me see that!

“Great lead, Ed.”

Indeed. And how very English.

I haven’t been abroad, but I’ve traveled quite a bit in the USA–most big cities, and have learned how inaccessible most of them are. Some are better than others, and newer is usually better, but it is tough out there.

I could go on and on about this, but just considering the curb thing…It may surprise many to know that the majority of curbs that ARE cut are still not easy to use for manual chair users like me, as there is almost always an obstacle (ramp too steep, has a threshold, not maintained–holes, uneven pavement, or my favorite, people standing in it). I almost got hit by a cab when visiting NYC, because I could not get enough momentum to get up the curb cutout due to people standing in it. I didn’t want to hit them with my chair, so I was stuck in the street shouting “watch out!” when the light changed.

Unfortunately, I think most a people (God bless ‘em) are clueless about this kind of stuff until they experience it, so it just isn’t a priority. I spent 27 years never realizing any of it, then bam!, I couldn’t go anywhere. I just never knew it was a problem before!

Shane, sorry to offend. I was thinking of the “mustn’t grumble” aspect of British life, which can extend beyond the self. People in Britain are tough. They can tolerate all kinds of discomfort and frustration, not to mention train and other service outages, without complaining. (The same is true of New Yorkers.)

I have no doubt that that shopkeeper would have leaped to his feet to help if my wife and I had lost our footing on the bridge, or if our baby had been in any jeopardy.

I think he watched us struggle for a few days before he decided we were okay and worth cluing in about the lift.

And I’m sure he didn’t know the lift was out of service.

I respond with a mixture of anger and disappointment – it’s a shame that your experience of London left that impression of English people on your mind; an impression so strong that you feel justified in lumping some 50 million people in the disobliging category.

I’m English and consider myself to be polite and helpful – and I know many people who are also English, also polite, and also helpful.

Had I been in New York, I may have been that man who helped that old lady.

Let’s hope your next trip to the UK leaves you with a better impression – we’re not all that bad.

We had to do Christmas Shopping with her in a wheelchair because she simply couldn’t last that long on crutches. Our local shopping centres have loaner wheelchairs which is awesome, but the experience was quite an eye-opener.

People don’t get out of the way of wheelchairs, in fact many people stupidly step right in front while you’re in motion; many shops have areas too small or cluttered to get around; one department store was using the accessible changeroom as storage and had to shuffle things around so she could get in there; disabled toilets had broken door open/close mechanisms; and so on.

When you need these things, you suddenly realise that accessibility really really needs to be 100%. Not 50%, or 90%, not even 99%. Because that 1% can get you killed, if it’s a missing curb ramp.

We’re not an enlightened society just yet. We still marginalise disabled people, in ways that are even more disappointing for being mundane (after all, who needs a bit of dignity while you go to the toilet? oh wait, all of us).